Day Late and Peso Short

One and all,

Again, Lo Siento, I am a day late with my latest report. Our social calendar suddenly took precedence and our whole daily of schedule of doing very little, was spoiled. Actually, the fault was our 8 am meeting with our friend, Reg Bartel, the wheat and canola farmer from Manitoba.

He is a great guy and a big eater. So, we agreed to share a 2 x 1 breakfast buffet at Los Arcos Hotel. The trick is that to take advantage of it, you must be paid up by 8:30 am. So at 7:45, Polley and I were catching a cab to the hotel. I will admit, it is a great Mexican breakfast with frijoles, migas, pork in a rich chili sauce, empenadas, omelettes, French toast, and fruit galore a fabulous spread, but a bit early. I found myself on my walk in the dark at 6:30 and all the morning routine was reduced to a blur. But it was a nice gathering, as we were joined by Reg's brother and his wife and a strange little man, Evan, who is an age-old friend of Reg's that he reconnected with in PV, to the surprise of both of them.

The social duties continued last night as we met up with a wonderful couple, Phil and LaJule Gant, that we met two years ago at El Patio and have stayed in touch with since. They are from Chicago and, not surprising, they were thrilled to be out of there. They are here for the month. We, again, met at El Patio and had a lovely evening. They are a very interesting couple, bright, funny, energetic. Se hope to see them a number of times during their month here.

Wednesday was a bit more regular. We got down to the beach at Langosta and got our half hour of sun. We love sitting and reading, watching the tourists wander up and down the Malécon, conversing with the variety of vendors with who we have become friends, and seeing the various fishermen drag in their catches. This fellow got a surprise.

He dragged in ray. Apparently they are not good for much, so after the photo-op, he returned it to the sea. We returned to Langosta for the sunset that evening and it was quite spectacular.

You will notice the banks of clouds. That has been the weather pattern this week: a bright, clear morning, warm days and soft breezes and then, about 4 or 5 in the afternoon, the clouds move in and sunset becomes a thin band of light just at the horizon

Following sunset, we were planning to have dinner at Miel, but were both disappointed (because we couldn't get in) and pleased (that they were doing so well) when there was no table for us. So, we ventured to a new place just down the street called "Bravo." They were quite full as well, but managed to fit us in. It was a very nice setting to look at, the food was quite good (Polley had a very good, but very rich carrot and ginger cream soup), but the place was so noisey! It is one of the trendy restaurants with all hard surfaces and nothing to dampen the sound. When it gets full, it is nearly deafening! Not sure we will return.

I mention the bright days and the air has been amazingly clear and, as one vendor said, "brilliant." Was taken with that vibrancy yesterday when I caught the color of the street just across from La Fuente

Brilliant seems the perfect word. Phil and LaJule both commented on the impact of first seeing the color when they arrived, after the gray and dirty snow of Chicago. Our time sitting at La Fuente for a margarita has been enhanced lately by the influx of tourists as we moved into February. La Fuente is a colorful place as well

And, while a bit touristy, is a very inviting place with its location right along the river. 12-1 nearly everyday, you can count on finding us there.

Wednesday evening we got down the Malécon for sunset and the same weather pattern continued. But it as the sun revealed itself from behind the clouds, it was pretty impressive

Just a tiny sliver of light pushed out all along the horizon of the bay

Always a good show, well, nearly always!

So, while there has not been a lot going on, we have managed to put our books aside for some social interaction. Tomorrow we are scheduled to go with our landlord and his partner, "whale watching." Should be fun, but as Polley said, "we do a good of 'whale watching' as American tourists get off the busses in front of La Fuente!" True, but we are hoping for a slightly different experience mañana. Photos, hopefully, to follow.

 

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